Factors Associated with Research knowledge and Attitude among Clinical Midwives Working at Public Health Facilities of Northwest Ethiopia, 2021: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Evidence-based care is pivotal in health, and needs experience and scientific evidence. Clinical midwives are busy with patient care and not involved in research, so their research knowledge and attitudes are not scientifically assessed. Our study aimed to address this gap so as to help set interventions to provide evidence-based midwifery care. METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2021 among clinical midwives working at public health facilities in Ethiopia. A structured and pretested self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data, which were transferred to Epi Info software. Descriptive statistics explained the variables. To identify factors, bivariate and multivariate (for knowledge) and ordinal logistic regression and correlations (for attitudes) were computed using Stata 14. P≤0.05 was taken as significant. ORs and Spearman correlation coefficients are also reported. RESULTS: Of 335 originally selected, 314 participated, for a response rate of 93.7%. In sum, 154 (49%, 95% CI 43.5%–54.6%) had good knowledge on research. Having taken a research-methods course (AOR 6.93, 95% CI 3.37–14.24), having research skills (AOR 2.25, 95% CI 1.30, 3.91), and having participated in research (AOR 3.08, 95% CI 1.37–6.90) showed significant associations with good knowledge on research. Of all, 252 (80.3%, 95% CI 84.8%–92.1%) had positive attitudes toward research. Age and having a positive attitude in the independent variables were significant predictors of a positive attitude toward research. There was a significantly positive correlation (ρ=0.183, P=0.001) between knowledge and attitudes toward research. CONCLUSION: Although a majority had a positive attitude, a significant proportion had poor knowledge of research. Provision of capacity-building activities (training and opportunities) and allocated time for research are important for the provision of evidence-based midwifery care.